Buongiorno, notte (2003)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Marco Bellocchio

Writers:

Anna Laura Braghetti (book) and
Paola Tavella (book) ...

Release Date:

5 September 2003 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

The 1978 kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro, president of the most important political party in Italy at the time, Democrazia Cristiana, as seen from the perspective of one of his assailants -- a conflicted young woman in the ranks of the Red Brigade.

Plot Keywords:

Pope | Italy | Brigate Rosse | Kidnapping | 1970s

Awards:

8 wins & 15 nominations

Cast

Maya Sansa	...	Chiara
Luigi Lo Cascio	...	Mariano
Roberto Herlitzka	...	Aldo Moro
Paolo Briguglia	...	Enzo
Pier Giorgio Bellocchio	...	Ernesto
Giovanni Calcagno	...	Primo
Giulio Bosetti	...	Paolo VI (as Giulio Stefano Bosetti)
Gianni Schicchi		(as Gianni Schicchi Gabrieli)
Carlo Castelli
Bruno Cariello	...	Segretario del Papa
Alberto Cracco	...	Medium
Emanuela Barilozzi	...	Annalisa
Roberta Spagnuolo	...	Sandra
Giovanni Cappelli	...	Un impiegato
Antonio De Matteo	...	Fratello Chiara

Also Known As:

Good Morning, Night (International: English title)

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Spain:13 | Italy:T | Australia:M | South Korea:15 | Brazil:12 | Philippines:PG-13 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15

Company:

Filmalbatros

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Near the end, when Aldo Moro walks away in the deserted street, you can see a multicolored Peace flag in the background. Those flags would decorate Italian streets only in 2003, to oppose the invasion of Iraq.

Movie Connections:

Edited from Paisà (1946)

Soundtrack:

Momento Musicale in Fa Minore, Op 94 No.3

A Remarkable Depiction of a Perplexing Coups

Marco Bellocchio takes a lot of chances in his films, examining human behavior in the face of dissension whether political, moral, or emotional. In 'Buongiorno, notte' ('Good Morning, Night') he studies the infamous 1978 kidnapping of Aldo Moro in what would be a situation that would raise as many questions as it gave answers - and it is that quality that Bellocchio has captured in his film.

The facts of the Italian political current in 1978 may not be understood by the general viewer, but suffice it to say that the ruling political party Democrazia Cristiana was challenged by the Red Brigade, the underground terrorists who kidnapped and killed President Aldo Moro in a coups that was eventually destroyed by the reigning powers. That much of a plot is all that is necessary to know. The bulk of the film revolves around the lives of the kidnappers, especially the sole woman Chiara (Maya Sansa) who with her compatriots hid the President in a tiny room with the threat of death, but also were influenced by the writings and conversations with Moro. The whole question of revolution is under close inspection. The story mixes documentary shots with the cinematography in a tasteful way of showing us the elements of the kidnapping and the aftermath. It is the reaction of Chiara to these events and the questioning that can disrupt the political leanings of revolutionaries that makes this story so very meaningful.

The cast is superb: Maya Sansa, Pier Giorgio Bellocchio, Giovanni Calcagno, Luigi Lo Cascio and Paolo Briguglia as the kidnappers, and Roberto Herlitzka as Aldo Moro are convincing and human. The script does have holes in it where formation of ideas and acts and incidents are vague, but it almost seems as though that is the intention of Bellocchio. In political upheaval nothing is black and white if the events are related through individual's eyes rather that through the reaction of the mobs. And this is what makes the film so fine, if a bit hard to follow.